Moo & Oink
Moo & Oink is a Chicago food brand known for hot links, meat products, and highly recognizable cow-and-pig advertising mascots.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Moo & Oink is a Chicago-origin food brand associated primarily with hot links and other meat products. Its roots trace to Calumet Meat Co., a Chicago meat company and wholesaler founded by Joe Lezak, whose family had an established history in the city’s meat trade. The original business operated near 35th Street and Calumet Avenue on Chicago’s South Side and sold pork, chicken, beef, and lamb. It developed a particular connection with soul-food restaurants and barbecue businesses, serving customers for whom economical and flavorful meat products were central to the menu. During the 1960s, Calumet Meat Co. moved to a larger facility at 3831 South Halsted Street in Bridgeport. The business later adopted the cow and pig characters Moo and Oink as brand mascots. In 1976, those characters became the public identity and name of the broader Calumet Meat operation, creating the Moo & Oink brand. The rebranding helped distinguish the company in Chicago’s competitive neighborhood food market and gave it a memorable visual and verbal identity. Moo & Oink became especially known for local promotional activity and television advertising. Commercials ran extensively from the late 1970s into the early twenty-first century, including late-night television placements. A long-running campaign featured a boisterous rap performed by Pierre B. Johnson, with the cow and pig mascots appearing as central elements. The advertising gave the brand a strong regional character and made its jingle and mascots recognizable beyond ordinary grocery-store packaging. The brand also entered broader Chicago popular culture when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler sang part of the jingle during a 2005 Saturday Night Live Weekend Update segment while demonstrating Scott Podsednik’s Chicago White Sox fandom. The company expanded into branded products during the 1980s. Those products were later discontinued following a management change in October 2006. In April 2010, the remaining owners introduced a redesigned logo featuring updated artwork of Moo and Oink and added Gobble, a turkey character associated with new turkey hot and mild link products. This represented an attempt to refresh the visual identity while extending the range beyond the brand’s traditional beef and pork associations. Moo & Oink’s retail and manufacturing operations subsequently faced declining sales and a shrinking customer base. The retail stores and meat company entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 30, 2011, and the stores closed during 2011. The store properties and locations were not sold with the brand. By the end of 2011, however, the brand, trademark, and recipes were sold to Best Chicago Meat Co., which had already been producing some Moo & Oink products. The continuing brand therefore became separated from its former retail-store network. Moo & Oink products continue to be available through grocery stores in Chicago, particularly in neighborhoods on the city’s South and West sides. Its significance rests less on national scale than on its durable local recognition, its relationship with Chicago’s African American food and barbecue economy, and its distinctive use of mascots, jingles, and neighborhood-oriented advertising.
History
Moo & Oink developed from Calumet Meat Co., a Chicago meat company and wholesaler founded by Joe Lezak. Lezak’s family had a long history in Chicago’s meat business. The original operation was located at the intersection of 35th Street and Calumet Avenue on the South Side, where it sold pork, chicken, beef, and lamb. The company specialized in supplying soul-food restaurants and barbecue businesses, establishing a commercial identity rooted in Chicago’s neighborhood food culture. In the 1960s, Calumet Meat Co. moved to a larger site at 3831 South Halsted Avenue in Bridgeport. The company later adopted two animal characters, Moo the cow and Oink the pig, as mascots. In 1976, the mascots became the public face and name of the wider meat business, replacing the Calumet identity with Moo & Oink. This transformation turned a wholesaler and meat company into a consumer-facing regional brand. The company’s visibility was built heavily through local promotion and television. Moo & Oink commercials aired from the late 1970s into the early twenty-first century, including late-night placements. A prominent series of advertisements used a forceful rap by Pierre B. Johnson, with Moo and Oink appearing as recurring characters. The campaign made the brand’s name, mascots, and jingle unusually recognizable in Chicago. Their cultural reach was illustrated in 2005 when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler performed the beginning of the jingle during Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update in a segment involving Chicago White Sox player Scott Podsednik. During the 1980s, the company expanded into branded products. A management change in October 2006 was followed by the discontinuation of those products. In April 2010, the remaining owners attempted to refresh the identity by introducing a new logo with revised illustrations of Moo and Oink. They also created Gobble, a turkey character linked to new turkey hot and mild link products. The business later experienced falling sales and a reduced customer base. On September 30, 2011, Moo & Oink’s retail stores and meat company entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy. All of the stores closed in 2011, while the store locations themselves remained unsold. By the end of that year, Best Chicago Meat Co. purchased the brand, trademark, and recipes. Best Chicago Meat Co. had already been producing some products under the Moo & Oink name, allowing the brand to continue independently of its former retail-store network. Moo & Oink products remain available through a range of Chicago-area grocery stores, especially on the city’s South and West sides. The brand’s continuing identity is based on regional recognition, meat and link products, and a distinctive advertising legacy rather than a national chain of company-operated stores.
- 2011
Chapter 7 bankruptcy and brand sale
[1]The retail stores and meat company entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy, stores closed, and the brand, trademark, and recipes were sold to Best Chicago Meat Co.
- 2010
Logo refresh and introduction of Gobble
[1]The owners unveiled updated Moo and Oink artwork and added Gobble as a turkey-product character.
- 2006
Branded products discontinued after management change
[1]The company’s branded products were discontinued following a management change in October.
- 2005
Brand jingle appears on Saturday Night Live
[1]Tina Fey and Amy Poehler performed the opening portion of the Moo & Oink jingle on Weekend Update.
- 1982
Pierre B. Johnson advertising rap debuts
[1]A long-running commercial series featuring a rap by Pierre B. Johnson helped establish Moo & Oink’s best-known advertising identity.
- 1980
Expansion into branded products
[1]The company expanded its range to include products carrying the Moo & Oink brand.
- 1976
Moo & Oink becomes the company identity
[1]The cow and pig mascots became the face and name of the broader Calumet Meat operation.
- 1960
Move to a larger Bridgeport facility
[1]During the 1960s, the predecessor company moved from its original South Side location to 3831 South Halsted Avenue in Bridgeport.
Calumet Meat Co. is established in Chicago
[1]Joe Lezak founded the predecessor meat company, which sold pork, chicken, beef, and lamb and supplied soul-food restaurants and barbecue businesses.
Products and positioning
A Chicago regional meat and prepared-food brand positioned through neighborhood grocery distribution, links to soul-food and barbecue cooking, and highly memorable mascot-driven advertising.
Meat products
Moo & Oink hot links
Hot links are the brand’s most closely associated offering and the product category most strongly connected with its Chicago identity. Moo & Oink emerged from a meat wholesaling business serving soul-food and barbecue establishments, and its hot links became a central consumer-facing expression of that heritage.
Turkey products · 2010
Turkey hot and mild links
The brand introduced turkey hot and mild link products during its later product expansion. These offerings were represented in the refreshed brand system by Gobble, a turkey character added alongside the established Moo and Oink mascots.
Packaged meat
Moo & Oink meat products
The broader range derives from the predecessor company’s sales of pork, chicken, beef, and lamb. Available assortments and current product specifications are not fully documented in the supplied reference material.
Marketing campaigns
- 2005Saturday Night Live jingle reference
United States
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler sang the opening verse of the Moo & Oink jingle during Weekend Update while discussing Scott Podsednik’s Chicago White Sox fandom.
Outcome. The appearance demonstrated the jingle’s broader cultural recognition beyond the brand’s normal Chicago market.
- 1982Pierre B. Johnson rap commercials
Chicago
A boisterous rap by Pierre B. Johnson became the centerpiece of a long-running series of Moo & Oink commercials featuring the cow and pig characters.
Outcome. The campaign made the brand’s jingle, name, and mascots widely recognizable across Chicago.
- 1970Moo & Oink local television advertising
Chicago
The brand used a sustained series of local television commercials from the late 1970s into the twenty-first century. The campaigns prominently featured the Moo and Oink mascots and helped build strong regional recognition.
Outcome. The advertising became a durable part of Chicago food and commercial culture.
Brand decisions
2011
Enter Chapter 7 bankruptcyOtherBackground
Sales declined and the customer base contracted, placing pressure on the retail stores and meat company.
Action taken
The business filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 30, 2011, and its retail stores closed during the year.
Aftermath
The store locations remained unsold, while the brand, trademark, and recipes were later transferred to Best Chicago Meat Co.
2011
Sell the brand, trademark, and recipesM&ABackground
Following the bankruptcy, the continuing value of the business was concentrated in its brand assets, recipes, and product activity rather than its closed retail locations.
Action taken
Best Chicago Meat Co. acquired the Moo & Oink brand, trademark, and recipes by the end of 2011.
Aftermath
Moo & Oink continued as a grocery-distributed brand without its former company-operated store network.
2010
Refresh the visual identity and add turkey linksProduct launchBackground
The remaining owners sought to update the brand’s appearance and extend its product range.
Action taken
They introduced a redesigned logo and created Gobble to represent turkey hot and mild link products.
Aftermath
The move broadened the mascot system and product presentation, although the later business entered bankruptcy in 2011.
1976
Rebrand Calumet Meat as Moo & OinkStrategyBackground
The company had developed cow and pig mascots that became increasingly associated with its consumer identity.
Action taken
The mascots became the public face and name of the entire Calumet Meat brand.
Aftermath
The rebrand created the distinctive regional identity by which the company became known.
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